This para jumble is from CAT 2020 Slot 3. Got stuck midway, can’t figure out how to connect the ideas on femininity and appearance.?

Question

A. The logic of displaying one’s inner qualities through outward appearance was based on a distinction between being a woman and being feminine.
B. 'Appearance' became a signifier of conduct - to look was to be and conformity to the feminine ideal was measured by how well women could use the tools of the fashion and beauty industries.
C. The makeover-centric media sets out subtly and not-so-subtly, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ways to be a woman, layering these over inequalities of race and class.
D. The denigration of working-class women and women of colour often centres on their perceived failure to embody feminine beauty.
E. ‘Woman’ was considered a biological category, but femininity was a ‘process’ by which women became specific kinds of women.

Divakshi Arora · Accepted Answer

This set revolves around how femininity was constructed and judged based on appearance. Sentence A introduces the main idea by distinguishing between being a woman and being feminine. Sentence E builds on this by explaining that 'woman' was seen as a biological identity, while 'femininity' was a process of becoming a certain type of woman. Sentence B continues this thread by showing how appearance became the standard for measuring femininity. Sentence D then gives a consequence of that standard &mdash; how working-class women and women of colour were often looked down upon for not matching that ideal.
Sentence C, however, shifts tone. It brings in the role of media and morality labels like "good" and "bad", which is a slightly different line of thought. It introduces a judgmental framework not directly linked to the appearance-based logic developed in the other sentences. That&rsquo;s why C is the odd one out.

T Mehta · Answer

This Para jumble is all about how femininity was judged through outward appearance.

Sentence A starts the idea with the contrast between being a woman and being feminine
Sentence E explains that femininity was a process, not just biology
Sentence B talks about appearance as the tool to measure conformity to femininity
Sentence D shows how this standard negatively impacted certain groups of women

Sentence C doesn&rsquo;t flow with this. It focuses more on how media shapes moral ideas about being a woman, not on the physical appearance standard or its consequences. That makes sentence C the odd one out in this set.